Suspects Rear-End Victims to Carjack or Rob Them

(Memphis) Two similar incidents on Thursday and Friday involve suspects rear-ending their victims to attempt either a carjacking or robbery.

On Thursday, an East Memphis woman was traveling west on Park Avenue to get to the Cooper Young area, when she ran into trouble at Park and Airways.

“Next thing I knew this white car came up behind me and bumped into the back of me,” she said.

Wanting to stay anonymous, she said she was lucky that a man driving a pick-up truck observed the incident as he pulled into the lane on her left.

She said she did what she would normally do after a fender-bender: get out to exchange information and look at the damage.

“The man in the truck next to me was rolling his window down. He said, don’t get out of your car. Get back in your car, and go, go, go. And I said no, these guys just hit me. And he said no, seriously. Get in the car and go,” she said.

She said as she looked back at the car that hit her, everything appeared to be in slow motion.

“I turned to look behind me, and the gentleman who was driving the car, that had rear-ended me, had his arm out the left-hand window, and there was a gun in his hand that was pointed in my direction…Before I could even get back into my car, they hit my car a second time. So I had to kind of run and jump to get into my car.”

She turned on Airways and found the men following her.

“That’s when the panic really set in,” she said.

She dialed 911, and the operator helped her navigate safely.

“She told me what to do, where to turn, don’t let them pass me, that type of thing. I was able to make a left at Young.”

The operator had two officers meet her at the corner of Cooper Street and Young Avenue.

“The police said they were surprised I was not a chalk outline on Park,” she said.

She wants to thank the man in the pickup truck who warned her to get back in her car, saying he is the reason she was able to get away safely.

A similar incident happened Friday in South Memphis. Two women in a car were rear-ended at Third Avenue and I-55.

Police said in an affidavit that Ronald Walker and Selenia Holden were in a Pontiac Aztec that caused the accident.

After the victim got out to inspect the damage, police said she was attacked by Walker, who then stole her purse.

Holden told police that Walker’s intent was to rear-end women’s vehicles and rob them for drug money.

It is not clear whether the same people are responsible for Thursday’s incident as well.

If you are in a similar situation, check your surroundings before getting out of your car. If you feel unsafe, call the police and get to a safe location. You can file a minor accident report later.